We at Softoy Hobby had an amazing time at ToyCon UK ’16 over the weekend, catching up with friends, selling toys, and most importantly, picking up a few gems for our own collection! Thankfully to all who couldn’t attend, we held back some select stock that we’ll be releasing online next week along with a few leftovers and a couple of soon-to-be-revealed surprises that didn’t make it to the event… So without further adieu, here’s a quick rundown of the slew of toys that’ll be available from our store starting Wednesday, April 20th at 9pm London time…

Gory Hole’s Warui Zonbi: Series 1 “Ghost Edition”// Featuring both SS Wolfgang and Selwyn, these MaBa Zombies-inspired finger puppets have been cast in a GID soft vinyl complete with teal rub, violet sprays and silver detailing. Limited to 10 sets, each coming packed in a deluxe display box with matching GID keshi, these have been priced at $85 per set. A limited run of blank GID sets will also be available for $60 each…

One-Off “TMNOB” Secrets of the Oozeballs// One-off Oozeballs inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these have been rubbed, sprayed and brushed by Tru:Tek in metallic Monster Kolor paint. Just Michaelangelo and Raphael remain, coming in at $100 each…

Nazi Hovertank play sets// A collaboration between Gory Hole and Science Patrol, these play sets feature Warui Zonbi “SS Wolfgang” mashed-up with the Mastodon tank. Hand painted by Tru:Tek, each set comes with a hovertank mounted on a display base with magenta keshi that fit in the tank base. Limited to 4, these have been priced at $75 each…

“GID” SD Fake Baron// The first exclusive release for Tru:Tek’s collaboration with Awesome Toy, the micro-sized super ‘bot keshi has been cast in a GID rubber this time around. Limited to just 10 pieces, each packed in a gacha capsule with insert and keychain attachment, these have been priced at $7 each…

Hand painted Strange Creatures keshi// A soft-debut for Radioactive Uppercut’s Strange Creatures of Atlas Island keshi, this first wave of casts have been hand rubbed, sprayed and brushed by Tru:Tek in a variety of styles and finishes. With standard customs priced at just $30, the more labor intensive Garamon and Pigumon homages can be yours for $35… Look out for more details on the first official SCoAI release soon!

TMNFB one-off// Continuing the TMNT theme, Tru:Tek has customized yet another upcoming figure from Radioactive Uppercut in those classic greens and browns, the clawed kappa known as Freakboy! Sculpted by Tim Stephson based on RU’s original design, the little guy – standing at around 2.5″ tall – has been cast by Tru:Tek in a keshi-style rubber, coming with various sprays and detailing to mimic TMNT’s Raphael. Limited to just 1, TMNFB can be yours for just $35…

“Darkside of the Rainbow” Arch Mage// Continuing his collaborations with Science Patrol (of which we hear there’s more coming very soon!), Tru:Tek has set about working on a micro-run of their ever-popular Arch Mage sofubi. Cast in a flesh vinyl, the little guys have been treated to a plethora of metallic pink and purple sprays over a black rub. Limited to just 3 pieces, these have been priced at just $30 each…

One-off Lamputron// A custom mash-up of Kenth Toy Works/acolorfulmonster’s Zombitron and Shimomoku’s Lampu, this adorable little figure has been adorned with a variety of metallic sprays and hand brushed detailing. Limited to 1, priced at $45…

“Two Face Todd” Trouballz// As well as Tru:Tek’s exclusives, the Softoy Hobby booth also had the honor of stocking a very limited supply of Bad Attic Toys‘ Trouballz sofubi. Available in 3 different vintage-themed colorways, painted versions have been priced at $85, whilst blanks will set you back just $60…

Keep a close eye on the Tru:Tek/Softoy Hobby Instagram feed here for a look at the surprises we’ll be revealing closer to the sale…

Over the past 5 or 6 years, I’ve been blogging about the designer toy community for 3 reasons:

1. I enjoy expressing myself through writing.
2. I love designer toys and I want to share that love with the community.
3. The blog supports the shop, offering a unique perspective on entire Tenacious Toys operation, and allows me to cover items and artists which are not currently represented in the shop.

As the whole operation has grown, and my needs to make actual money have grown, I have had less and less time to dedicate to blogging. I have therefore enlisted the help of a variety of members of our community to contribute content to this blog.

That offer is, and remains, open to all toy people who love to write.

I have pretty much left each blogger to his or her own devices, as we rarely see posts that incite any emotion other than joy. This is probably because, for the most part, that’s the type of community that I chose to encourage.Yesterday, we ran a post that promised to uncover salacious details of this industry and invited community members to submit their grievances to be considered for publication.

I take full responsibility for that post - the blogger who wrote it asked me for permission before posting, and I did read it and approve it on the fly. My misstep yesterday was in making a hasty ruling on this post while moving around, working for several other clients during the day. I read it quickly, didn’t think much of it, approved it. My fault, not the writer. We did communicate several times about it and discussed the concept after I got home and the post was live.

However, after sleeping on it, literally, I have had a change of heart. I have deleted the post and attempted to erase it from my social media.

I do not want Tenacious.ninja to be a platform for the airing of grievances. I do not want it to be a place where people fight, accuse, or call others out. I ESPECIALLY do not want my blog to make anyone feel bad. I cannot live with that. That’s not in my nature, and I will not allow it.

In my efforts to develop a true community-driven blog over the past couple years, I have in some ways slowly let go of the reins so that the community can talk about itself.

However, I have seen on the various message boards our little community literally devouring itself - a total mindfuck of negativity which was such a complete turnoff that I would only go on there to defend myself in the rare instances that my name or my brand was unfairly dragged through the mud.

It is for that reason alone that I do not look at toy boards. (Not their fault, of course, they just provide the platform. It’s US who turn it negative!)

And one thing I know for sure: I don’t want MY baby, this blog, to pull that negativity off the boards out onto the open internet where even more people can read negative posts.

So I’m taking the reins again. I will maintain my stable of bloggers who do a fine job of representing our brand and our community - I just do not have time to make all these posts!

HOWEVER, I will now set forth a Mission Statement for this blog so that there is no doubt about its purpose:

TENACIOUS NINJA is a blog which exists to promote and celebrate the creativity within the designer toy and custom toy world.

That’s it.

Negativity has no place here.

I recognize that many people have had negative dealings with other artists, customers and companies. It happens! Not just in designer toys, but everywhere, all the time. That’s life.

I’m not much for quotes but I do abide by this one:“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” - Charles Bukowski

To me, that means that you are defined by your actions. As you walk through the fire of life, you get burned. But you come out the other side stronger, and if you do it with a smile, you just fucking won life. We all go through shitty circumstances. How do you handle those situations? If you manage to get through it without going nuclear and getting all destructive, you are magically stronger afterwards. It’s the motherfucking miracle of life.

I see, hear and understand all of the situations which aggravate all of you about this community. I’ve experienced them too. We can all discuss in private how to handle such situations, and then proceed to handle them like adults. In private. Like adults. It's absolutely amazing what one can accomplish when dealing with bad situations in a calm and professional manner. I'm still amazed at how a negative situation can be turned around, simply by remaining calm. Often, the outcome can be positive for both sides.

I fully support blogs whose purpose it is to stir up dissent and anger. First Amendment! However, my blog won’t be one of them, so if that’s what you’re looking for, please keep moving.

No word on Roy "Big Country" Nelson, Kimbo Slice, Holly Holm, Urijah Faber, or Brock Lesnar... not sure if that is a mistake, or omission, or if they are simply planning on releasing a more entertaining set of fighters in Series 2... but I guess only time will tell.

Kyle Kirwan is planning a release this Saturday (April 16th at 12pm Eastern) of his Caldera Willos. These supernatural Willos are handmade, hand-painted Rotocast resin, standing 11" tall. Because of the nature of this design they are each slightly unique.

They run $125 and are a tiny edition of five. These will be available at his store and will have a couple with him at the Suburban Vinyl Booth at East Coast Comic-con on Saturday as well!